Random scenes from my morning walks...

•  Ants. Swarms of them. So many it felt like I was walking into an Antapocalypse. What's up with that?
• Baby robins hopping after their mother in search of breakfast.
• The cutest dog, tail wagging, happily carrying his own red frisbee on his walk to the park with his owner.
• Lovely white yucca blossoms. So many of them. Everywhere except in my own yard. For some unknown reason, my yucca plants refuse to bloom. 
• Three chattering squirrels running along the top of a fence then leaping onto a branch of the tree right above my head. For a moment I was afraid I was about to be centerstage in a viral video called "When Squirrels Attack!"
• A sign in someone's flowerbed that read:  Garden of Weeden. (It made me laugh.)
• And my favorite thing of all--this quote that my neighbor posted in his front yard:  "You believed in the tooth fairy for years; you can believe in yourself for five minutes."

Have a great day!

P.S.  I think my comments are falling into spam limbo again; I don't know why, but it happens periodically. So if you haven't heard from me for awhile on your blog, check your spam folder. My comments might all be there. 

Another fun summer romance...

 "Adventure awaits."

Emily Edwards is not adventurous or outdoorsy, but she's made a promise to scatter her dad's ashes on Isle Royale, a remote National Park in Michigan that her dad always wanted to visit. So she hires Ryder Fleet to be her guide. Only it was Ryder's older brother, Caleb, who was the outdoorsy one, not him. He doesn't even know how to use a compass. But he needs the money, so he agrees to be Emily's guide. What happens to them on this remote island is some crazy kind of fun that includes getting lost in the woods, a bear spray incident, a pirate shipwreck, some bad guys, and a legendary lost diamond. I thought The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea was laugh-out-loud funny. I loved how Emily and Ryder are total opposites yet connected because of their grief over lost loved ones; I also loved how they found a way to let go of past regrets and move forward with laughter and love together. This book made me smile all the way through. And for that:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews

 

Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid

Wedding trip plane crash

strands bridesmaid with her old flame;

can love re-ignite?

Contemporary romance .... 293 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Cute forced proximity second chance summer romance.)

The Passengers by John Marrs

Eight self-driving cars

hacked and programmed to collide

as the world watches.

Science fiction .... 337 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Thought-provoking, fast-paced and twisty. And will make you never want to own a self-driving car.)

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Filming Coast Guard hero Hutch

makes Katie face her fears and

learn to love herself. 

Contemporary romance ... 302 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Favorite quote from this fun romance:  "No one's born fearless. You have to earn it. Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time."

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS ON MY SUMMER 2025 TO-READ LIST.

Which sounds easy but was actually a little hard because there are so many books I want to read this summer, how do I pick just 10? I ended up with 15 on my list. Here they are:

1. That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

2. The Big Fix by Holly James

3. Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan

(Book #3 in this fun mystery series.)

4. Tide Together by Melanie Summers

5. Exposure by Ramona Emerson

(The second Rita Todacheene mystery.)

6. One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune

7. Crossing Paths by Katie Ruggle

(I've been waiting for this book to come out since 2020; here's hoping it doesn't disappoint.)

8. Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

(The third book in her Rip Through Time series.)

9. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

10. We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

11. Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

12. The Double-A Western Detective Agency by Steve Hockensmith

(Book #6 in the fun and always funny Holmes on the Range series.)

13. Fairy Tale by Stephen King

14. Rage by Linda Castillo

(Her 17th Kate Burkholder mystery.)

15. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

(Check out Leslie's review and you'll see why this book got added to my list.)

As you can see, I'm working on catching up on some series and hoping to fit in a mix of romance, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. All subject to changes in my reading mood, of course. I'm also hoping to read several of John Connolly's Charlie Parker books, a few nonfiction books, and anything else that catches my eye. 

Happy Summer Reading! 

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

From the blurb:  

"1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is plowing a field for a local farmer when she discovers a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl, Shawnee, is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished. 

"In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her suspicions of the dead man's grieving widow. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before Shawnee is placed in foster care, another body turns up. Concerned about the girl and her mother's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse."

My thoughts:  Cash Blackbear is young, guarded, and doesn't always make the best decisions. And her intuitive gift, those dreams and impressions that often lead her to the truth, seems to be on the fritz. But she's stubborn and tough and refuses to give up on Shawnee and her mom. And I liked that about her. I hope someday she'll learn to let in the people who care about her, and connect with them on a deeper level. I'm obviously invested in her journey! And these mysteries do such a good job of immersing you in that 1970s time period and Red River Valley setting, with all its injustices towards women and Native Americans. It's another reason I find them so compelling and interesting. This is another 4-star read from Rendon. All four of her Cash Blackbear mysteries are worth checking out. 

Happy Reading!

Other book from this series that I've read and reviewed:

Murder on the Red River (#1)

Sinister Graves (#3)

June's bookish art...

 

"Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,

Are a substantial world, both pure and good."

--William Wordsworth

Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin

 "I gazed down the way we had come. The magnitude of the feat we had accomplished flooded in with the crisp air as I surveyed the vastness of the valley and the distant ranges. Patience and determination had carried us up and over the obstacles to that cloud-high perch, to a view usually reserved for eagles and angels. ... Only a few people ever are given the opportunity, or accept the challenge, to climb a thirteen-htousand-foot mountain. Few ever a chance to see that sublime view, breathe that pristine air, overcome those formidable obstacles, or feel that joy-filled exhilaration. And I was one of them."

 

The John Muir Trail:  211 mile hiking trail that runs from Yosemite Valley through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. 

Three women in their fifties, and one in her twenties.

Four weeks of adventure:  river crossings, alpenglow, lightning, snow, mountain passes, mosquitoes, wild flowers, peaks and valleys, beautiful lakes, beauty, struggle, friendship, and joy. 

"Succeeding at such a huge personal challenge changes a person. ... When we take on the nearly impossible and succeed, the impossible begins to look approachable."

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Thoughts:  I love hiking memoirs like this one. It's immersive, transportive, and inspiring. It made me wish I had adventurous hiking buddies like Joan's! Because this is the kind of adventure I've always dreamed of doing. I honestly don't know if I could handle the mosquitoes, or sleeping on the ground, not to mention having no bathrooms; and I don't know if my knees could take hiking up all those steep peaks only to then have to hike back down them. But wouldn't it be awesome to accomplish something this amazing and challenging? 

As John Muir wrote:  "Fear not, therefore, to try the mountain-passes. They will kill care, save you from deadly apathy, set you free, and call forth every faculty into vigorous, enthusiastic action." 

Happy Reading!

Two quick recommendations....

 

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

True crime podcaster, Ben Owens, is looking into the unsolved murder of Savannah Harper. His investigation brings Lucy Chase, the prime suspect, back to her hometown of Plumpton, Texas. It's the last place she wants to be, but Savvy was her best friend and Lucy was with her the night she died. Everyone thinks she did it, but no one can prove it. And Lucy can't remember what really happened that night. But it's time for her to find out the truth...even if the truth points to her. 

What a gripping twisty thriller! I loved the format and how each of Ben's podcast interviews brings out another piece of the truth. Then there's all the lies and contradictions and Lucy's own unreliable memories. It's great storytelling that kept me guessing until the very end.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Ornithologist's Field  Guide to Love by India Holton

"Birds are easy; people are utterly bewildering."

Set in England in 1890, this captivating historical fantasy has wild avian magic, cutthroat ornithologists, and a ruthless competition to capture the rare and magical Caladrius bird. At stake? Being named Best Birder of the Year...and winning tenure! Beth, a serious, smart, and shy professor from Oxford reluctantly teams up with Devon, an irreverent, good looking, and intelligent professor from Cambridge who finds out his competitor is not only spunky, but sassy, too. 

"Who knew that racing across the country, being attacked by deadly magical birds and kissed by a handsome rogue, would be so transformative to one's character."

I loved Beth and Devon and their competitiveness, their love of birds, their wit and banter, and their enchanting romance. Holton writes with a tongue-in-cheek humor that I thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, I loved everything about this book.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"All any of us want, bird and birder, is the freedom to find our own skies, our own magic."

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme: SUMMER FREEBIE.

So, I'm going with My Favorite Summertime Songs. These are my favorite anthems of summer. Are there any songs on this list that you love, too? 

Vacation 

(The Go-Go's)

Surfin' Safari

(The Beach Boys)

Cruel Summer

(Banarama)

Summertime

(Bon Jovi)

Boys of Summer

(Don Henley)

All Summer Long

(Kid Rock)

Summertime Blues

(Alan Jackson)

Summer of '69

(Bryan Adams)

Endless Summer Nights

(Richard Marx)

Hot Summer Nights

(Gloria Estefan)

Randomness...

Has anyone see the new movie Karate Kid: Legends yet? I haven't, but I want to. I was a big fan of the original Karate Kid movie, and I love that they brought Ralph Macchio back in this one along with Jackie Chan. What a fun combo! I can't wait to see it. 

I bought this new fun wall clock last month. It has twelve different birds around it that chirp on the hour. I love hearing their different songs. The chickadee song at 8:00 especially makes me smile. 

A sad truth:  my summer reading list is already so long I need an extra month or two ...or three... to read all the books on it. And it's hard to narrow it down because I want to read all the books all at once. How do you choose between so many good books? Maybe I'll put all the titles in a hat and draw them out one by one and leave it up to chance. At least I don't need to worry about running out of books to read this summer.

And here are some of my glad things from May (it's a shorter list this time around because May was a rough month for me, but good things still came my way):

• The beautiful blooms on my roses. 
• Strawberries ready to pick.
• Ladybugs!
• Playing games with friends. 
• Spending time with family on Memorial Day.
• Best of all, school's out for summer! (I like my job, but I love summer vacation even more. I just wish I had a fun summer trip planned. Oh, well. Maybe next year.)